Bill O'Reilly - Sexual Predator?

Bill O'Reilly, the most powerful force in cable television, politically speaking, was sued for sexual harassment. Maybe he's guilty. I don't really know. I do know that using the law to crush your enemies is becoming more and more common. And, because O'Reilly is a powerful, conservative counter-voice to the overwhelmingly liberal media, taking O'Reilly down is a real feather in the progressive movement's cap.

The accusation of sexual harassment can be particularly difficult to address, since the term is constantly being redefined and expanded to include what were once thought of as innocuous behaviors. If the accusation are old enough, they often simply stand on their own, with very little evidence to support the claim, beyond the accusation itself. Add a wealthy, high profile target like O'Reilly and you've got a real political and financial windfall for those involved.

Lawyers know that targets like O'Reilly are likely to settle, rather than face an ongoing, very public trial. So it's a win win, with little downside. Meaning, O'Reilly is publicly humiliated and tarred as a power-hungry misogynist. The attorneys get a big payday. A few women get their day in court, plus a decent payday. And the Left can now simply dismiss one more powerful conservative voice as a cave-dwelling bigot, thereby shoring up their political base.

Inevitably, those who like O'Reilly's politics will dismiss the lawsuit as political in nature. And those who don't, will have one more reason to hate the man and the movement that he represents.

That is politics in a nutshell; a dirty, vile means of fighting an ideological war without obvious bloodshed, but not without victims. The victims are everywhere. If anything, there may be even more victims than in traditional war. The real problem is, most people will never know they've been victimized. They will still pay a steep price, however, which was the real intent all along, and they will continue to pay it, long after Bill O'Reilly and his accusers are gone.